MGW's Blog at LumberJocks.comhttp://lumberjocks.com/MGW/blog
Thu, 25 Aug 2011 03:09:57 GMTThe Gang's All Here!http://lumberjocks.com/MGW/blog/25112
I have been trolling Ebay for the last month or so looking for hand tools, especially planes. I’m sorry if I’m the one who stole something away from you, but I lost many more auctions than I won, as I’m sure everybody knows!

Today, I arrived home to two boxes on the porch, containing the last two Stanley planes I needed to have what I feel is a pretty good start of a collection. (I had to rush them to the shop before YKW got home and found me getting “MORE PLANES“)

They are all Baileys, including #3, #4, #4 1/2, #5, #6, and #7. I also grabbed a #220 block plane and #190 in my hunts. I’m keeping my eyes open for others, but in what I’ve been reading, this is more than enough to set up as “users.”

Honestly, I’ve done nothing with any of the planes, except admire them as they struck sexy poses on the table in the corner. I have had a couple of hand planes for several year (bottom of mystery buckets from estate auctions), including a not very old Craftsman something or other. Last week, I stripped it apart and soaked it in Evapo-Rust and used a toothbrush to get the gunk out of it. It looks much nicer, but is no where near usable yet. I have a lot to learn, but wanted to practice on something that I didn’t feel was too valuable. I still need to clean on it some more, but I also need to figure out how to tune and sharpen it. Once I get comfortable with that, I’ll try it out on my other no-name. Then it will be time to start in on the REAL planes.

Check out the pictures below and let me know if you know anything about any of these or have any advise. I’ve bookmarked Patrick’s Blood and Gore but other than a quick check to make sure what I was buying had some worth, I haven’t had much time to study up on my specific planes yet. And I keep finding more LJs that are simply artists when it comes to restoring planes, so I’ve been hanging on their every post as I run across them.

Thanks for checking this out!

Here’s the whole Stanley gang together for the first time!

These are the “Before” pictures of the Craftsman plane. I still have work to do before showing its completion. Anyone have any ideas what it is?

Thanks!Michael

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Thu, 25 Aug 2011 03:09:57 GMThttp://lumberjocks.com/MGW/blog/25112MGWMGWMy First Dovetails #1: Getting Started and How I Got Herehttp://lumberjocks.com/MGW/blog/24791
Let me first explain myself. I started woodworking just after getting married 10 years ago. Someone out there can probably explain this to me, but after a couple of kids, it seems that the time to enjoy my hobby as well as the resources to buy tools seems to have been diverted elsewhere! The good news (other than my beautiful family, of course) is that I was able to become the owner of some very great tools in those days, even though they ended up in storage for a good number of years.

In late spring of this year, I was out of work for a couple of months and decided to take the time to clean out my garage, which was specifically built to be a woodworking shop, and get back into making sawdust and scraps. It is still a work in progress, but I finally have room to get a good amount of work done and took real advantage of the time away from work. I have built a cabinet for my wife’s yarn room (and I mean ROOM), a couple of shop projects, and I’m currently working on a screen door to go on the front porch of our 130 year old home. I’ll be sure to post that when it’s complete. The point that I’m working toward is that I have a little bit of experience, although I am always my own worst critic, but I think it’s time for me to step up and challenge myself a little more. I have decided that I will make a hand cut dovetail box by the end of the summer. I have purchased a marking gauge and a cheap dovetail saw to go with the other tools I already had in my shop.

I decided this back in May. Today is August 7th. (I returned to work in July.) I spent last week at the beach for my family’s vacation and spent a lot of time reading my old magazines and books, as well as LJ and podcasts. I’ve especially spent a lot of time watching the Renaissance Woodworker, The Wood Whisperer, and Woodworking with the Bois. It’s time! I am starting today!

I looked through my lumber rack and found several pieces of cherry shorts that I bought on my very first trip to the Hardwood Store and have moved around with me since. I think this is going to be the perfect thing to start with since I haven’t found a use for it yet and I like cherry.

This is more than enough for the box I have planned. I am thinking that I’ll use the wide board as the top and bottom, but before that, I’ll cut a couple of pieces from the end, mill them, and give this a try. I’ll mill all of the wood just in case I make a mistake (or should I say when I make a mistake) and if all goes well, maybe I’ll be able to get an extra box from all of this. We’ll see. Keep looking for updates as I work on this, and thanks for any comments and/or advice you may have.